Mercenary
Monk
Ranger
Sorceress
Warrior
Witch
Path of Exile 2’s Patch 0.2 – Dawn of the Hunt launches on Friday, April 4, 2025, and it is packed with new content: a new class, new ascendancies, crafting systems, unique maps, and significant endgame changes. Here is a full breakdown of what to expect.
What Is Included in Dawn of the Hunt?
Patch 0.2 Dawn of the Hunt is the first major patch for Path of Exile 2, which brings:
- The Huntress, a new class with 2 Ascendancies.
- New weapon types: Spears and Buckler.
- New ascendancies for Mercenary, Warrior, and Witch.
- 25 new Skill gems.
- 100+ new Support Gems.
- 100+ new Unique Items.
- Rework of Endgame Towers.
- Rework of Corruption Mechanic
- 8 new “unique” maps
- Azmerian Wisps spotted all over Wraeclast
- Meet Rogue Exiles in a fight to the death.
- Tiered Runes and new socketable Talismans
- 4 Unique Strongboxes
- New crafting options
The Huntress – New Class and Weapon Types
The Huntress is a dexterity-based Azmeri warrior who fights with a spear in one hand and a buckler in the other. She is great in fast, fluid combat. Weaving melee and ranged skills together, she dashes in and out of danger. Her arrival also brings two completely new Weapon types:
- Spears: a new weapon class with unique skills
- Bucklers: a lightweight shield type tied to the new Parry skill
Parry lets you block enemy attacks by holding the skill. A successful parry leaves the monster debuffed and vulnerable to follow-up hits, making it a key skill of this class.
The Huntress also has two Ascendancies:
- Amazon: A master duelist and guardian of the Azmeri elders
- Ritualist: A darker take on Azmeri tradition, using ritual sacrifice for power
Here is a closer look at the skills from both Ascendancies:
New Ascendancies for Core Classes
Dawn of the Hunt introduces three more ascendancy classes for existing characters:
- The Tactician (Mercenary): A battlefield commander trained by the Blackguard. Offers support and crowd control, but is also deadly in melee.
- The Smith of Kitava (Warrior): Crafts weapons and armor mid-combat, empowered by Kitava himself. A literal blacksmith of destruction.
- The Lich (Witch): Gives up part of her soul using a Phylactery gem to become a master of Chaos and Curses.
(Important note: Blackened Heart and Dominion over Flesh were swapped in one of GGG’s previews, but they have confirmed this was a mistake.)
New Skills, Minions, and Companions
In addition to the spear and parry skills, PoE 2 is also adding some long-awaited abilities:
- Raise Spectre: Trap monster souls and summon them. They reserve Spirit, revive automatically, and vary by monster type.
- Summon Rhoa: Summon a Rhoa companion that you can also ride during combat, letting you shoot or throw spears while mounted.
- Tame Beast: Turn a defeated rare enemy into a summon that retains its original modifiers.
Summon Rhoa and Tame Beast both fall under a new Companion minion type. You can only have one active at a time, unless you take a keystone that allows two (but not of the same type).
Over 100 New Support Gems and Uniques
The update brings 100+ new Support Gems to customize builds, plus 100+ new Unique Items, many of which are aimed at mid and endgame power spikes. There is also a new category of Unique Charms and socketable Talismans that drop from infused monsters. Here is a look at some of these items:
Massive Endgame Reworks
Dawn of the Hunt also brings some changes to PoE 2’s endgame in a rather big way.
More Map Portals (Early On)
Early progression now gives you more revives per map, instead of the harsh one-death limit. The harder the content, the fewer portals, so it ramps back to what it was over time.
Azmerian Wisps
These glowing spirits roam areas and flee when approached. If they touch monsters, they possess and empower them, giving them new abilities and better loot. Some will target Rare or Unique enemies directly. There are 12 types of Wisp, each tied to different mechanics and rewards. They will reward you with some of the new Talismans (mentioned above) that can be socketed into your gear.
Rogue Exiles
Deadly NPC Exiles with player-like AI. They use skills, dodge, reposition, and drop great loot. However, they will escape if they kill you first!
Towers
Tower density has been reduced, but each one is now more impactful. They scale with Waystone tiers, affect more maps, and let you run up to three tablets at once. Several new Unique Tablets are also being introduced.
Corruption Zones and Cleansed Maps
Corruption has grown across Wraeclast. You can now find Corrupted Nexuses, each with three terrifying bosses. Defeating them will cleanse surrounding maps, unlocking a new pool of monsters, modifiers, bosses, and rewards, including the new Fracturing Orb.
Essences Overhauled
Essence encounters can now be corrupted with Vaal Orbs. Results vary. They might duplicate essences, upgrade them, or transform them into one of four new Corrupted Essences (Hysteria, Delirium, Horror, Insanity), each with unique crafting outcomes.
New unique maps
There are 8 new endgame maps in total. Here is a preview of a few:
- The Fractured Lake: Fight mirrored rare monsters in pairs. Complete the map to earn a crafted amulet or ring with enhanced modifiers.
- Ezomyte Megaliths: Trigger wave-based boss fights by activating rune stones. Up to 10 waves, with increasing rewards and a chance for Greater Runes.
- The Silent Cave: Release and defeat rare monsters sealed in Essence crystals. Each one powers up the boss. Choose how much to risk.
Unique Strongboxes
Four new strongbox encounters are also being added:
- Ogham’s Legacy: Revives a rare monster repeatedly, with each resurrection adding new modifiers and higher reward potential.
- Ixchel’s Torment: Vaal Technology-themed strongbox that drops a unique item with a corrupted twist.
The other two remain unannounced; explore the Atlas to find them!
New Crafting Options
Dawn of the Hunt introduces Recombination Crafting.
Combine two items at a Recombination bench, unlocked after your first Expedition, and choose which modifiers you want to try transferring. The more modifiers selected, the lower the chance of success. Failure destroys both items.
You will also be able to find and use Fracturing Orbs, and the new Corrupted Essences offer more advanced gear customization.
That covers the full feature list for Path of Exile 2’s 0.2 patch Dawn of the Hunt. There is plenty to explore. So stay sane, Exiles!
